Cal Poly Pomona postpones job fairs after community outcry over immigration officer recruitment

According to an Instagram post, Cal Poly Pomona invited ICE to recruit at a job fair on September 18. The job fair has now been postponed and the university stated ICE did not register to attend. 

Cal Poly Pomona, a campus that is designated as a Hispanic Serving institution (HSI), stated in an email from Cynthia Peters, director of media relations, that the university had career fairs scheduled for September 18 for all majors and September 19 for STEM major focus. 

The information on the career fairs was sent to more than 160,000 employers through the Handshake system.

“More than 200 employers had registered for the career fairs. Among them were U.S. Customs & Border Protection, the FBI and some local law enforcement agencies. ICE had not registered for either career fair,” their statement reads. They did not have information on other agencies under the Department of Homeland Security. “Both career fairs have been postponed in response to community feedback and a decision to reassess how we can continue to deliver quality career programming for students and employers.”

In the Instagram post, one of the comments said, “As an alumni this is not right to legitimize this agency having them at a job fair. ICE is a gestapo police force for a fascist dictator. They are not a legitimate place of employment.”

A campus email announcing the postponement was sent this afternoon, which reads: "As a public institution, CPP must operate in accordance with applicable laws. Our campus is open to the public, and we cannot exclude federal employers, including Customs and Border Patrol, from participating in career-related activities."